Apple's new iMacs offer more and less
updated 07:45 pm EDT, Thu September 7, 2006
Apple's new iMac lineup
The new 24-inch iMac has a few surprises, including an an upgradeable graphics card (through the use of a MXM PCI Express connector), a FireWire 800 port (thus reducing the number of available FireWire 400 ports to one), an improved 24-watt speakers (twice that of its 17- and 20-inch iMac siblings), a better NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics card, and new 2.1 surround; meanwhile, users note that Apple's low-end 17-inch iMac, which is available at the lower price of $999, trades features for the the lower price when compared to the higher-end models--including offering a low-end integrated Intel graphics card (rather than the ATI GPUs used in the other models), a Combo drive (rather than a SuperDrive in other models), a smaller 2MB Level-2 cache (vs 4MB in other models), and no Bluetooth or Apple Remote. Readers note that the low-end $999 iMac is simply the previously available education-only model with a faster processor. [updated]
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2005
Decent computer for $999
I think it's great there's a $999 iMac again. My only complaint with the configuration is lack of a superdrive. I think this model should lose the airport and gain the superdrive. Budget users might not think they want to make a DVD video, but they'll sure appreciate the drive when it's time to back stuff up.
Very cool about Apple re-affirming a commitment to FW800.